Blow review

 Number 681 on the top 1000 films of all time is Ted Demme's 2001 biographical crime-drama 'Blow.'

Blow tells the story of George Jung (Johnny Depp), one of the biggest drug-traffickers in American History. We see his meteoric rise to infamy, including working with Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis) to his momentous downfall. Penelope Cruz, Rachel Griffiths and Ray Liotta co-star.

Is it far to say that film blows? Not quite, but there was definitely more bad than good. Things start interestingly enough, as we see George's rise - his relationship with his parents, his graduation from selling weed to trafficking cocaine, and his introduction to some of the biggest narco-traffickers ever. Despite the awful wigs he had to wear, Johnny Depp was charismatic as usual.

Then it all came crashing down in a second half that was founded on unlikelihoods. It stopped being an interesting look into criminality and became a hokey family-drama.

Firstly, let's start with Penelope Cruz who played George Jung's second wife Mirtha. Granted, the two had better chemistry than Depp and Framke Potente who played his first wife, but the relationship was difficult to believe. We are introduced to Mirtha, as the fiancee of a Colombian gangster who takes an instant disliking to Jung. Yet Jung is able to steal away his wife, no questions asked. In this criminal underworld, people get killed for lesser offences, yet George Jung faces no repercussions. 

But this is nothing compared to what's to come. After Jung is betrayed by his criminal associates, he decides to pack it all in and retire from crime and live a normal life. It sounds great except it's a load of rubbish. You don't just retire from a life like this; you're in it until you die. The mob doesn't let you retire; why should the cartel be any different? How do they know you won't be spilling your guts to the FBI? This is based on a real story, so I guess it must be true, but it was still difficult to stomach. 

The same goes for Penelope Cruz who was quite rightly nominated for a Golden Raspberry award. Her portrayal of Mirtha was just annoying and whiny. Also, Cliff Curtis wasn't physically imposing enough to pull off playing Pablo Escobar. He lacked the aura of menace that Wagner Mourra had on Narcos. Lastly, Rachel Griffths was badly miscast as George Jung's mother. She's five years younger than Johnny Depp and no amount of grey hair dye could convince me otherwise. Ray Liotta was more convincing as Jung's father.

It's a shame that this film's second half was so bad. It had all the potential of being another Goodfellas, but it was just a blow-out.